Chippewas Close the Book on Fall Ball
10/25/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Improvement and identification were the goals. Now, it's time to move ahead.
The Central Michigan baseball program wrapped up its annual Fall World Series Classic last week, giving veteran coach Steve Jaksa and his staff their first under-fire look at a roster that will look significantly different in 2017 than it looked last spring.
A core of seniors and other veterans return, both on the field and on the mound, from a team that finished 24-37. Among those mainstays are pitchers Jordan Grosjean and Pat Leatherman, catcher Robert Greenman, along with senior Alex Borglin, the team's Co-Most Valuable Player Award winner in 2016 who can play any number of positions.
Aside from that quartet and a few others, the Chippewas are incorporating a relatively large number of new faces. The team's seven-game intrasquad series ended with the Maroon holding a 4-2-1 advantage over White.
But more than wins and losses, Jaksa and his staff sought to gauge how their players performed under pressure.
"We got better in the seven-game series," he said. "There was a certain level of mental toughness that we wanted to develop. We talked a lot about consistency; this is a game of consistency of approach.
"We also talked about trust -- trust what you're being taught, trust the guy next to you, and with the understanding of how important it is to be about the team. Accepting roles, whatever that is, and to literally be unselfish for the guy next to you. That's what it boils down to."
The series was played over a schedule that mimicked the Chippewas' normal spring schedule, with three weekend games and a midweek contest.
"Friday, Saturday, Sunday and that Sunday is your championship day," Jaksa said. "You can you win the series, can you sweep the series, or can you salvage it. Sundays become so very important."
All in all, Jaksa said, the Chippewas identified their strengths and their weaknesses. Both will get plenty of attention as they look ahead to the 2017 campaign.
"Not every game was errorless, but we didn't miss signs," Jaksa said. "There were times we challenged them to make sure we finished things the way we wanted to finish them, such as cuts and relays, offensive signs, defensive pickoffs, bunt coverages.
"We got better. Now we've got to take it from here."
